Just bought a house in need of a new kitchen, bathroom and a lot of furniture. Would love to hear any recommendations for furniture/kitchen/bathroom showrooms or companies that are good to deal with in the greater Dublin area. Likewise, who should I avoid?
I really like the look of some of these - kitchenelegance.ie/kitchens/traditional/ - has anyone dealt with Kitchen Elegance before? Would be hoping to get the kitchen and appliances for under €10k (well under if possible!). No idea of what their prices are like yet.
Pro Tip: don’t get a white sink! They look great in magazines but stain/get dirty. The Franke ones scratch too. Dual sinks are great and a waste disposal is worth it. If you’re tall avoid really deep sinks too
My cousin got ideas from magazines/ high end UK brands/websites and got a local independent guy (country) to make them up (came in well under 10k); it looks look great though yer man isn’t too hungry for work - has it cushy in Bord na Mona .
I’ve had a couple of IKEA kitchens. Decent quality, low prices. You can self-assemble or get someone do do it for you - or a combination, you assemble and they hang
If nothing else, use their free software to plan the kitchen, you can drag and drop elements in to a room set up and get an idea of how it would look, what the space to move around will be like etc. It’s great fun. Then get slasher’s mate to build it.
+1 on a double sink. Put your Oven at eye level if you can at all. A double oven if you cook a lot
Of Irish companies, if you’d like to support your local economy, Fitzsimon’s Kitchens in Meath are very good.
+1 on Ikea kitchens - I’ve assembled the stuff that’s in our back kitchen. Cheap and cheerful if that’s what you want and it’s wickedly easy - and very satisfying - to build.
I’d advise spending what you can afford on your kitchen appliances and furniture if you spend a lot of time there. It’s the centre of everything and you don’t want to be looking at stuff that annoys you, doesn’t work or doesn’t age well. We still have no floor on our sitting room but did invest in a decent kitchen that will age with us and outlast us. A word of warning if you go for solid wood worktops. Ours weren’t sealed properly - waxed, not oiled and it broke my heart. It took a lot of work (thanks to the advice of a pinster) to get them to where they should have been when we bought them. But I did the same as Slasher’s cousin and designed the kitchen myself based on what I need - I’m short, wanted no top cupboards, that kind of thing, and got lots of ideas from good magazines (which you can read for nothing in your library). It’s a brilliant room, it works and it’s warm and welcoming too. I’m not wildly houseproud in general and could care less about a lot of what’s involved, but the kitchen is magic.
Your work triangle is important. You should ideally be able to step or turn between your sink, fridge and cooker. Our cooker is in the island (don’t forget you’ll want sockets in your island, whether it holds a sink or cooker). If you’re short, a deep sink is great, and you should have the level of the worktops at a comfortable height for the person who’ll be working in it most.
Slasher is right re white sink to a point - but any sink will only look good if you’re cleaning it half a dozen times a day and in real life, who has time for that? Or the interest, but that’s life. Worse is that there’s no forgiveness if you drop things in a ceramic sink. They’re gone.
Invest in the best cooker/hob and dishwasher you can afford, because you’ll use them all the time and if they give trouble you’ll be heart-scalded. The fridge is less important by far.
Marble worktops (or stone, or cement). Being able to just slide a hot pot or take a roasting dish from the oven and dump it anywhere on the worktop is brilliant.
We did this and saved an absolute BOMB. B&Q will design the kitchen by your measurements free and tell you exactly what you need and then you can get a carpenter to do it. I can PM you my guy’s number if you want.
Thanks for the tips folks - much appreciated. Are kitchens from the likes of B&Q, Ikea good quality or something you’d look to replace after a few years? I’m a firm believer in ‘buy it right or you’ll buy it twice’.
@ born_in_may - I’d appreciate the number of a good carpenter in general so PM it on please.
I only know IKEA. In my experience it lasts well. I got a guy to put it in which might have helped. It’s not Siematic or Bulthaup of course, but it’ll do.
Another tip and something IKEA is big on, is to build high, right to the ceiling. You’ll need a step around the place to get into the top units but it’s handy to put away the little-used implements or a store of non-perishable foods. It can make the room feel narrow is the only potential problem.
We just recently surprised my mum with a new kitchen while she was away on holiday. Luckily my brother is a builder/cabinet maker so he did all the assembly. We got the kitchen in Ikea and I would say they are very good quality with lots of nice little gadgets like carousel shelves and pull out larder cupboards that are extremely functional. The only thing about them is they come in standard sizes which can be a bit frustrating if you have a specific space to fit into, but a bit of clever planning can help you get around those issues. I think the misconception with IKEA is the fact that if it’s cheap it must be crap but I don’t find that to be the case for the most part. If you assemble it correctly their stuff lasts, find someone who’s a bit of an expert at assembling their stuff and they’ll set you right
Anyway the kitchen, new sink, all base cupboards with some sort of pull out function or drawers (she’s old and I didn’t want her to be getting down on her knees reaching in to the back of corner cupboards) in an approx 3.5m x 2.5m U shape, 3.5m of wall cupboards, cooker hood and fan, large double sink and fittings cost approx €2.5k. I didn’t have any integrated appliances. We used the planner and it is very good, it itemises everything and costs it so you can really keep track. I do have an architectural background so found it quite user friendly but you may be better off heading into them and sitting down for a consult. Arrive first thing on a weekday, head straight to the kitchen area and put your name down and you will be seen quicksmart
They do have the planning tool for other rooms in the house also, their wardrobes seem pretty functional too. Furniture such as sofas can be very cheap all the way to pretty expensive but the more expensive stuff is definitely good quality and a lot of the fabric stuff is washable which is key if you have kids
I do love that place but I believe it is a rational love
+1. Have bought two kitchens off them and by complete coincidence have just been on to them this morning about some mods. Always helpful, acceptable quality goods and work, and the fact that I bought two kitchens in the bubble years when not too many suppliers gave a shit about their customers speaks well of them.
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